Moving in with the family
by herk227
Summary: After surviving the Chitauri invasion Phil Coulson has to face a far greater challenge: Moving in with the Avengers. And the question presents itself of how much of your private life you can and should keep from your team. Phil has always been a private man and really doesn't feel comfortable with the thought of the Avengers finding out about him and Clint.
1. Prologue

author's note: The chapters on this one will be quite short (since I still can't figure out when the paragraph formating works as it should and when not I decided on chapter breaks intead). The fic will include all Avengers but is centered around Phil (again) and his issues for a change. Coulson will be a pretty BAMF, but that doesn't mean he has no weaknesses. There will be dialogue-y chapters and a few more action orientated ones and well stuff ;)

This is set in the same continuity as "The Three SHIELD-keteers", "The Dating History of SHIELD Agents", "Things Hawkey isn't terribly good at" and "TOPMCL fic". I will probably tell more stories in that continuity, but that's the current state

* * *

Moving into the tower had gone over surprisingly easy. Phil had spend the better part of the renovation time recuperating in SHIELD's medical wing and Stark had been clever enough to **ask **before he redesigned whole floors for the comfort of his new tenants.

"You sure about this Agent? I'm more than willing to give you a whole floor to yourself – same as everyone else." Tony was pretty surprised that someone would choose less instead of more.

"Yes, I am sure. The tower's base area is over four times as big as my current flat, I won't need all of it." Phil pointed at the plan Tony held out before him. "If you put my office here right next to the elevator, you all will have easy access and if you add a wall here," his finger drew an imaginative line, "then I can even have something similar to privacy in my private quarters."

"What about the rest of the place?"

Phil rolled his eyes theatrically. "For all I care put in closet space, but with the glass-front there and the balcony I'm sure Barton would like to put up a training range here."

Stark's brows furrowed. "I was thinking about a range underground, to give Hawkeye the opportunity for long-range practice, the tower is not big enough for that." Coulson had to agree on that, yet for his own reasons he still wanted Clint close, he was just about to interrupt, when Tony continued. "But a second range for short and middle range practice in natural light probably would be good, too – just for variety and if we open the doors he can practice under outdoor conditions, which is a plus..." Tony's voice trailed of as he thought about a dozen or so reasons why a second range was a brilliant idea. "I'll have to ask him of course," he explained to Coulson.

"Of course," Phil agreed with a small smile as he sank back into his pillows.

About two months later Coulson was fit enough to move into his new quarters in the freshly renovated Avenger's Tower. It was impressive what one could do with the kind of money Stark had, there was hardly any damage to be seen from Loki's attack on the tower. Phil still referred to this as his quarters, he refused to think of a place as 'home' where Tony Stark could drop in at any moment.

Having a whole floor all to themselves was quite luxury and gave them much more privacy then they had ever enjoyed in the field, in HQ or anywhere that hadn't been their own small flat. Considering some of Phil's neighbors and the thin walls they had had, probably even more than there. At first Phil and Clint were both unsure how to act now that theoretically one of the Avengers could walk in on them any moment, not to mention the constantly present AI, but they found out pretty quickly that everyone in the tower respected their privacy.

Each and every one of the Avengers had their own issues and personal quirks and they expected to be left alone when they were on their own floors and so they treated Coulson's and Barton's private quarters the same. If Coulson wasn't in his office or on the common floor, not even Tony Stark did more than ring him on his phone or let JARVIS call him. So gradually Phil and Clint began to relax and started somewhat of a domestic life together when the doors of Phil's quarters were closed.

They still kept it under wraps and in the tower no one but Tasha – and JARVIS of course, but he had privacy sub-protocols, which Tony wouldn't breach without a suspicion to start from – knew about them.

*M*I*W*T*F*

Coulson's official job was to be the Avengers' handler – or babysitter as Stark put it in his own eloquent words – but as long as there were no major catastrophes happening, the Director expected Barton, Romanoff and him to do other Avenger unrelated jobs, too. Well mostly him, since even within SHIELD there was a whole lot more work for an incredible bad-ass bureaucrat than for two master assassins.


	2. 1 - You won't like Phil when he's angry

author's note: All I'm saying is Coulson with too little sleep and confronted with too many incompetence is not a sight you would like to see. I think Coulson could stop the Hulk with a proper scolding.

* * *

"Where were you this morning? We could have used you, Agent." Stark looked up from his coffee as Coulson entered the common floor of the Avengers tower.

"A good day to you, too, Stark." Phil responded acidly. He had been pulled out of bed by Director Fury at 3:30 AM and had been expected to be at the top of his game after less than 3 hours of sleep. His mood wasn't exactly the best. He took a mug for himself and filled it with coffee.

"Welcome back, Coulson." Clint had the audacity to grin at him, the only one here who knew how little sleep he had had and one of the reasons behind it, and instead of compassion he only found schadenfreude.

Instead of facing his lover's amusement Phil turned to Tony. "Could have used me for what?" He took a careful sip from the hot, black, liquid lifesaver.

"Bruce and me discovered some very weird little bugs in the tower. We thought someone evil wanted to spy on us, so we did our best to locate the point where all the data was transmitted to – guess what?"

Considering Tony's tone Phil had a terrible suspicion. He groaned – not enough that his boss dragged him out of bed in the middle of the night to mediate in a meeting with the secretary of state, he also went behind his back and spied on his charges without his knowledge.

"I think we could have saved a lot of time and resources if you'd been here and had just told us, that your people installed the nasty little things."

"First of all Mr. Stark – I didn't know of any equipment installed by SHIELD in this tower until you just told me. Secondly – you are hardly the person to complain about someone installing spying tools. Thirdly – JARVIS could you please open a line to SHIELD HQ?" Phil turned towards the two resident Avengers. "And you two stay out of sight and keep quiet."

Tony was far too baffled by seeing Coulson lose his cool and by anyone talking to him this way to protest the tone of command. Clint's eyes widened in slight surprise, but he knew Phil long and well enough to know when the time for teasing or disobeying was over – he practically sunk into the shadows in the background and pulled Tony out of JARVIS' camera's line of sight.

"Agent Coulson?" Maria Hill had no idea what was coming her way.

"Good afternoon, Assistant Director. I hope everything is well?"

Her brows furrowed in confusion, it wasn't like Coulson to make small-talk on an official channel. "Agent..." she started.

"Because at my end things are far from well, right now. I spend half of the night and the whole morning stopping Director Fury and the Secretary of State from throttling each other, a feat not made easier by the fact that our boss has the diplomatic inclination of a mule. Only to find out as I come back to my primary mission, a job I was hand-picked for, because – and I quote "I trust your instincts on this" – a job no one else in SHIELD wants to touch with a ten-foot pole, that _someone_ went behind my back and installed spying equipment."

He took a short pause to examine the woman before him. Under normal circumstances he and Maria got along quite well and their relation was defined by mutual respect, but right now he was very, very unhappy and she was probably part of the reason. Her expression had grown more strained as he spoke and her lips were tightly pressed together now.

"Please do me the favor of telling the Director, if he or anyone else pulls a stunt like this ever again, he can find someone new to be his liaison here."

He ended the call rather abruptly. When he turned around he saw a rather shocked Tony Stark and behind him Barton with a wide grin giving him a thumbs up.

"So now you know where I've been this morning," Phil stated calm and pleasantly.

Tony was still perplexed. "The secretary of state?"

"She's rather fond of me – it probably helps that we've got you as a common enemy."

This made the billionaire smile and he changed the subject. "I always thought Hill was your superior?"

"So is the Director, but there is a difference between working for someone and being a mindless drone, I thought you understood that."

"Go and get some sleep Agent, before you bite anyone's head of. I'm rather fond of mine."

*M*I*W*T*F*

Later Clint joined him in his quarters as Phil was just getting ready for bed.

"You really left an impression on Stark."

"At least something good to come out of that disaster. What was the boss thinking, really – undermining my position like that?"

Clint embraced Coulson from behind and placed a gentle kiss on his neck. "Stop being so grumpy old man – you love this job."

The only admission to that was that Phil relaxed into his embrace and let himself be led to their bed.


	3. 2 - Three reasons

author's note: Tasha simply knows Phil (and Clint) too well.

* * *

"When are you going to tell them?" Tasha was lying on the couch in Phil's office. With his bedroom only a few meters away he had no real use for it here, but for old times' sake he still held onto it. And now Tasha was sprawling there like she had done so many times before and shot a deeply personal question at him out of the blue, also just like many times before.

Coulson let out a sigh and looked up from his laptop. "You, too?"

Natasha Romanoff sat up and slung one arm over the back of the couch. "Barton asked you this, already," there was the smallest hint of a surprise in her voice. "So it is your decision."

Coulson didn't see the need to comment on that.

Nat shifted her weight slightly. "Why?"

He gave her a slight shrug. "Several reasons – First: I'm a private man, as is Clint. This is none of their business. Second: I need each and every one of the Avengers to trust my impartial judgment. I don't think any of them can wrap their head around the concept, that I can love Barton and still be neutral in the field."

She nodded. "Stark would either think that you're playing favorites or that you don't love Barton – neither would be good."

Tony and Clint actually got along quite well and Stark had a protective streak a mile wide, when it came to people he liked, so 'not good' was an understatement.

Her eyes bore into his. "And what's the third reason?"

It was almost impossible to keep something from the Black Widow. But Coulson wasn't ready to admit to anything. "I'm sure you know, without us talking about it."

Tasha rolled her eyes. "Shouldn't you be the adult in the relationship with Clint?"

But Coulson didn't take the bait so she sank back onto the couch leaving him to his work.


	4. 3 - Charity dinner with surprises

author's note: There is nothing like a quiet normal evening if you work with the Avengers. But even a charity dinner can show Coulson something unexpected about people he thinks he knows.

* * *

It was a perfectly normal PR thing. The Avengers still needed every bit of good PR they could get after the Chitauri invasion and the resulting destruction – never mind that they had saved the world from far worse – the public perception was a fickle one. Since Tony Stark was a genius when it came to selling himself he stood in the middle of the stage talking to New York's finest at this charity dinner to benefit the victims of the latest natural catastrophe. Captain Rogers was right at his side. He wasn't a natural in the same way Stark was, but his open honesty and all around authenticity won over the masses as well as Tony's easy charm.

Clint and Tasha weren't there. The two still did everything to keep their faces out of the press as lifelong habits died hard and this time around they had a very good reason, being away on a special mission for SHIELD in Asia. Coulson would have preferred to be there as their handler, but Sitwell was more than competent to do that job, while the Avengers wouldn't recognize anyone but him as their official liaison. With Banner staying at the tower and Thor being reigned in by his date Dr. Foster, Stark was the only one Coulson really had to worry about. It was a pity that Pepper had to work at the west coast tonight, or he might have even relaxed and simply enjoyed his dinner.

Just when he thought he might go through this evening without any major crisis – Stark had passed the microphone to Captain Rogers and had so far avoided any incidents – the attack happened.

When the explosion hit the building everything became a giant turmoil. Stark had his armor ready but it still took a few moments to get into it, luckily Capt. Rogers had his shield at hand and his radio in place – he didn't need to bother with anything else. Coulson saw Thor reach out with his hand in the now familiar summoning gesture – Mjollnir would be here before the dust had settled – as he heard Captain America's voice in his ear.

"Report, Agent."

"The north and west doors are blocked, but the emergency exit on the east wall is free, the fastest way into the open is out there, to the left and down two flights of stairs. Six – correction – seven people in the room have drawn weapons and need assumed to be hostile."

Rogers' shield flew through the room as the last claps of Stark's armor closed and knocked out a gun wielding man behind the mayor, while he rattled of the positions of five hostiles visible from his position. Coulson added the two positions he had identified as he walked over to the emergency exit and started to guide civilians out of the area.

With Tony suited up and Thor armed with his magical hammer the fight took less than two minutes, the biggest difficulty being their concern for the civilians' safety. But the armed criminals weren't their only problem, despite Captain America's best efforts it took them some time to calm everybody down and squelch the rising panic, and the explosion had done some pretty serious structural damage.

Coulson did his best to lead out everyone in an orderly fashion and surprisingly enough Dr. Foster proved to be a big help in that regard. Thor, Iron Man and Captain America used their powers to free the people stuck or carry out the ones that weren't capable of doing so themselves.

It had been a foolish attack by a group of idiots that greatly overestimated their abilities and in the end they were really lucky, there were no dead people to mourn and most people got away with little to no injuries. Coulson was already going over the report in his head, when he saw a young man off maybe 20 storm over to Captain America and practically pull the mid-twenties guy with the cut in his leg out of Rogers' arms, showering him with kisses. He took just enough time between kisses and checking out his lover's injury to thank the leader of the Avengers for saving him. Although Captain Rogers was surprised by the young man's action – for him the 40's were still less than a year ago after all – he smiled at the heartfelt thanks and simply left the two with the medics.

In the end Stark, Thor and Rogers were home hours before their handler, who had to stay behind to organize and report until there was nothing more left to organize and report. When Happy arrived at the scene of the explosion opening the door of his car, waiting for Coulson to climb in and drove the agent home without another word, Phil was almost ready to forgive Stark for at least 40% of what the man put him through on a regular basis.


	5. 4 - Baby Steps

author's note: My fics had a terrible lack of Pepper until now. Pepper is awsome and adds spice to your life. (Seriously Pepper/Tony is the only cannon ship where I do feel the spark).

* * *

It was a bit of a surprise when the knock on Coulson's office door neither turned out to be Stark, Thor or Dr. Banner ready to interrupt his work and get on his nerves with one childish request or another, nor Clint or Tasha searching for a bit of quiet company or bringing him a coffee or something to eat.

"Hello, Phil."

"Pepper." To say he was pleasantly surprised was an understatement. He gestured at her to come in. "What are you doing here?"

Pepper Potts sat down on the couch and smiled warmly. "I had a business meeting in New York which thankfully went over quicker than expected and since Tony is jetting somewhere through the lower atmosphere with our resident thunder god – as JARVIS informed me – I found I had some time on my hand to visit my favorite SHIELD agent."

"You're too used to dealing with managers, Ms. Potts – I can assure you that it's not that easy to twist me around your finger. It takes more than a pretty smile and compliments to do that. Coffee?"

"Yes, please." She took the offered mug from his hand. "So you've settled in in the new Avengers Tower?"

They started pleasant small-talk and Phil enjoyed himself extremely over the course of the next hour. Pepper was a highly intelligent woman, with a warm sense of humor and she knew enough about SHIELD and the Avengers that he could talk relatively open.

"So what about the cellist, Phil?"

He blinked in surprise, he'd told her that 'the cellist' had moved back to Portland before the Chitauri invasion and she hadn't asked since then. "I wasn't aware we were talking about my love life."

"It's either yours or mine," she informed him.

He admitted defeat with a small smile. "Well it's been months," he reminded her mildly.

"My point exactly – Phil I know you've had a lot of recovering to do, and I bet it wasn't easy to keep Tony and the others in something even resembling a line, but you can't hide forever in here. Or are you still not over her," she asked with a sudden worry.

That was the moment Phil decided to take a leap. "I never said the cellist was a 'she'," he pointed out.

"Oh – I just assumed, didn't I, sorry." She blushed slightly. "I never thought of myself as a person to make such assumptions."

"Don't worry, it's not as if I corrected you. I just normally don't like to talk about my private life."

Her eyes narrowed. "You know I won't be as easily distracted. He / she it doesn't matter, you can't just hide here all the time."

"Who says I do? Like I said I don't like to talk about my private life and just because Tony doesn't know about it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"You really don't want to talk about it?"

"Right now – no." He had come to admire Pepper far too much and although it might have been easier to tell her something to get her off of his back – like he had done over a year ago with 'the cellist' – he didn't want to lie to her if he could avoid it.

"OK – I'll leave you alone then. Under one condition."

He raised his eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"You promise me to go out on at least one hot date in the next month and try to have fun. I know I won't learn about it, keep it as secret as you like, just promise that you'll do it."

Thinking of Clint and their favorite little Italian restaurant Phil smiled. "Deal. And Tony hears nothing about this."

"Deal," she agreed.


	6. 5 - The Decision

author's note: So after everything Phil finally makes a decision.

* * *

Phil knew that Clint didn't want to keep their relationship a secret from his fellow Avengers anymore. Even if he himself would have hated each and every one of them, this alone would have made him consider telling them very seriously. Clint had more trust issues than anyone else he knew, except maybe Natasha, and the fact that he was ready and willing to trust his team mates with something this important was a major sign for Phil that they might have found a place where they both could belong, even more so than with SHIELD.

While Phil loved SHIELD, to Clint it was a job. A job he liked and enjoyed and was good at, but a job nonetheless, with all the implied risks, that he might lose it if he wasn't good enough. Clint hadn't had a family since his brother had betrayed him. Phil wasn't sure if he himself ever had had a family in that sense other than Clint and Tasha.

And despite his grumbling about Tony's constant pushing of his buttons, fighting against authority and wise-cracking, he had learned to respect and even like the multi-billionaire genius. Thor and Dr. Banner were easy enough to handle, usually ready and willing to work with him and he had grown quite fond of them.

So after arguing for hours and hours with his own stubborn habits he came to the conclusion, that he should come out to 'his' team.

And then Jersey happened.


	7. 6 - Nothing ever goes as planned

author's note: Why Wallaby? I don't know it was the first thing that sprung to my mind and since codes should be as non-sensical as they get, so no one can crack them by the power of association. Also as a non-native speaker I was just proud that I could use the word marsupial (albeit in the next chapter - oops spoiler).

* * *

The attack from HYDRA came out of the blue. There had been no indication for rising activity by the terrorist group and it took the Avengers almost half an hour to reach the Jersey factory hall they were attacking.

Cloned dinosaurs might sound like a cliche but from up close they certainly were no laughing matter. As always Coulson had found a place with a good view close enough to the battle to give out valuable information but far enough away that he wouldn't get drawn into it.

It was a sight to behold as the god of thunder fought against a genetically engineered thunder lizard, trying to keep it away from the nearby human city. The Hulk was wrestling something like a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex, Coulson was sure that Doctor Banner would later educate him on the correct species. Tony used his speed and the protection his armor granted him to keep a pack of Velociraptors occupied while Hawkeye picked out threats from above. For the moment Coulson had lost sight of the Black Widow as she was undoubtedly infiltrating the enemy warehouse to find the ones responsible.

Captain America was coordinating the fight from the thick of it, using the information Hawkeye, Stark and Coulson were sending his way. Everything went quite well until a very unlucky hit took out the Captain's radio. They were all used to fighting together by this point, but losing the contact to their leader, took its toll.

Coulson informed them all that Rogers was still standing and had just lost contact. You could practically hear the breath of relief that came from all of them. Hawkeye having run out of arrows jumped into the melee with several HYDRA agents.

"Isn't the Cap always telling us to look after our equipment? He's not exactly setting the best example here."

Phil thought about answering Iron Man when Barton's voice interrupted.

"Code Wallaby."

Coulson immediately acted. Since the archer had used the code over the group channel he probably thought they could be overheard, so Phil used his radio, to call the Avengers on their individually shielded channels. The Widow had understood Hawkeye of course but the rest had no clue.

"Stark – this is Coulson, we need to lose this battle."

"What?! Have you gone completely nuts?"

"Stark, we need to lose at least for long enough for some of them to escape. You can have your victory once they've managed to capture Barton and took him from the battlefield. No discussion – just inform the Captain."

He switched the channel before Iron Man could protest further. Stark was the fastest and most mobile one and had the best chance to inform the leader who had lost his radio.

"Thor – this is Coulson. In a short while a group of the enemy will try to flee with a captured Hawkeye. You need to let them escape."

After a very short pause Thor answered. "A ruse of war?"

"Exactly."

"I understand."

"Can you stop the Hulk for long enough should it become necessary?"

"Aye."

It wasn't in the Avengers' nature to lose a battle and so the HYDRA terrorists had to fight hard to capture Hawkeye and to get enough room to escape with him. Once he was sure that Barton had been brought away, Coulson gave the signal to the heroes, that they were now allowed to win.

The rest of the fight went over quickly and maybe a bit more harshly than strictly necessary.

The debriefing was far from that easy.


	8. 7 - debriefing

author's note: Of course the rest of the Avengers feel a stronger bond to Barton than to Coulson, they fight and train together, while Phil mostly stays in the background. Also if Coulson gets REALLY upset his voice will be all quiet and soft and then you'll know you're in trouble.

* * *

"Why the hell, did we let them capture Barton?!" Tony was basically jumping down Phil's throat.

Dr. Banner while back in his normal body, seemed dangerously close to losing control. His aggression was equally aimed at Coulson and Thor, who had used his hammer to knock the Hulk out, before he could tear the SHIELD agent limp from limp.

Coulson's stare was ice cold, he wouldn't be threatened or shouted at by anybody, not even Tony Stark.

Captain Rogers stepped between the two. "Tony – give him a chance to answer before you yell at him." He turned towards Coulson. "Well Agent? What made you give that order?"

He wasn't asking, what had given Coulson the right to give that order but the question was dangerously close to the surface.

"I'm afraid you are mistaken, Captain Rogers. _I_ didn't give that order, I just confirmed it."

Now Thor was confused. "Then who did give it?"

"Barton did," the Black Widow explained.

All eyes went her way and then back to Coulson. "Wallaby is a code used between agents Romanoff, Barton and me. It means the need for immediate infiltration of the enemy at all costs."

"SHIELD uses marsupials as codewords?" Tony still tried to get his anger under control.

"Wallaby isn't a SHILD standard code," Natasha explained.

"Which means Barton was very, very worried about something, he doesn't use our codes except for exceptional circumstances," Coulson added.

The small room went very quiet.

"So when you say at all costs..." Dr. Banner let the sentence hang in the air.

"It means Agent Barton considered whatever he had discovered important enough to risk his life to find out more about it."

"I don't like all this trickery and secrecy."

"Well guess what Thunderboy, neither do I." Tony turned to Coulson. "You knowingly and willingly send Barton into a potentially deadly situation and stopped us from doing something about it."

"Barton has been an agent of SHIELD long before you even thought of doing anything more than drinking and partying, he just does his job."

"Well guess what, being an agent of SHIELD sucks. And Clint is an Avenger now, which means we're looking out for each other – we _care_."

Steve furrowed his brow. Tony was definitely going too far, but before he could say something, Coulson spoke. His voice was very quiet and soft.

"Acknowledging that there are things more important than yourself, doesn't mean we don't care, Tony. And I _trust_ Agent Barton to make the right call."

He left the room with the words "I've got work to do, if Barton's move shouldn't be in vain."


	9. 8 - The long wait

author's note: Waiting is often the hardest part of Phil's job and the only thing you can really do is trust the person in the field. Most importantly you can't act on your feelings for that person or you'd screw up. It's a good thing Coulson is such a bad-ass professional that he can deal with it.

* * *

Coulson spent the next hours organizing a stand-by SHIELD recovery team to be ready to help the Avengers once they decided to get Barton out, setting up the surveillance of Clint's vital signals and sitting in front of the monitors watching over him. Rogers was the first one to come and visit.

"You've got everything you need, Phil?"

A part of the tension left Coulson's shoulders. "For the time being. Thank you Captain." His eyes didn't leave the monitors.

"Can you read anything on that?" The Captain studied the lines carefully but wasn't sure what to make of them.

"His vitals are stable and strong, he's probably conscious. They found and destroyed his means of direct communication," he pointed at a flat-lined monitor, "but he's fine for the moment."

"You're telling me he has no way to contact us?" Rogers sounded worried.

"He's been lost behind enemy lines without means of contact before. He is not as experienced as Agent Romanoff in undercover work, but he is more than capable of looking after himself."

"And how will you know when he needs to get out?"

A small smile played around Phil's lips. It was completely devoid of humor. "He will either find a way to a radio or a phone himself, or I will be able to tell by his faltering vitals."

Steve nodded. "You really think this is so important?"

"Barton thought so." Phil didn't mention that the SHIELD extraction team was close enough to have a reasonably good chance to resuscitate Clint once they reached him. He just prayed that that wouldn't become necessary.

*M*I*W*T*F*

Tony dropped in maybe half an hour after Captain Rogers had left. He carried two cups of coffee and put one down in front of Phil. It was as much of a peace offering as an apology.

"So how's Barton doing?"

"Still stable." Phil didn't mention the elevated adrenaline levels the chip transmitted, nor the fast breathing or pulse.

"What happens if they find the transponder?"

"There's nothing much they can do about it. If they want to stop the signal they would have to bring him to a seriously shielded location and we would notice the movement, or they would have to cut the chip out."

"Cut it out? You mean the transponder is _in_ Barton?"

"How do you think it escaped their detection?"

Tony thought about that for a moment. "You've got one too?"

"As does Agent Romanoff – every SHIELD agent above security clearance level of 8 has one."

"So they chip you like pets to find you again if you run away?"

Phil sighed, as much as he'd come to appreciate Tony Stark, the man's view of SHIELD was wearisome. "Agents above a certain clearance know too much to risk letting them fall into the wrong hands without means of locating them. The procedure is voluntary but necessary to get cleared for level eight. And it's actually good to know that you have an added security net should things go wrong."

"Where do they put it – I mean to keep it from getting located or accidentally destroyed?"

"Under the left shoulder blade, to get it out you'd have to do major surgery, and once it gets exposed to air it will destroy itself."

"What about EMP?"

"A possibility – but they would have to locate the signal first, we use a very unusual frequency, and even then it would very probably just restart. We have some of the brightest minds in the world working for us."

Tony grinned. "Naturally." For a while none of them said a word until Stark spoke again. "You won't be able to keep watch here 24/7."

"I already worked out a schedule with Agent Romanoff."

"We could help out, you know. Barton is our teammate too."

The acknowledgment, that he Barton belonged to one team in Tony Stark's book, brought a smile on Phil's face. "Your not trained in reading these lines. The Black Widow and myself are able to tell, if he sleeps, is awake, is healthy or developing a fever just by looking at these and it would take time to teach you." He didn't mention with a word that the vitals told him that Clint was under a lot of stress right now, probably being tortured.

"Next time then."

"Next time," Phil agreed without the slightest plan to ever let it come to that.

*M*I*W*T*F*

He and Tasha switched places at the monitors every 6 hours. They waited for 3 days and slowly but surely Coulson got seriously worried. HYDRA had transported Clint to a hideout in the city and were now doing god knows what to him. He trusted Clint and his abilities but the thought of his lover behind enemy lines without any means of easy contact wasn't exactly reassuring.

Thor had always trusted Coulson's judgment as apparently did Captain Rogers, but Dr. Banner was a deeply suspicious man and only the fact that he trusted Tony and Stark was ready to trust Coulson kept the other guy from coming out.

Phil asked himself what would happen to the Avengers if things went badly. He didn't allow himself to wonder about what would happen to him in that case.

And then Natasha Romanoff came into his bedroom in the middle of his sleeping shift and told him.

"He wants to get out."

Barton was up and halfway in his pants before she had finished. "How do you know?"

"He told me."

"He reached a radio?"

"No," they were both running towards the common room, "through breathing."

"What?" Coulson felt that he wasn't awake enough for this.

"We talked about it once – in Budapest. The chip transmits your breathing rhythm, so if you know someone is watching... It's relatively easy to slow down or quicken your breathing."

"Oh god what if I had overlooked that."

"Hardly, you would recognize Morse code."

"So he breathed an SOS?"

"It was more along the lines of 'If someone sees this, be so kind and get me out.' He obviously had a lot of time on his hand and hasn't lost his humor."

Coulson stared at her.

"His spelling was beneath contempt though."


	10. 9 - Finally

Coulson organized the rescue mission together with Sitwell and Captain Rogers, since he was the one person the Avengers as well as SHIELD implicitly trusted. Despite his need to get Barton out as quickly as possible, he spent two whole hours going over the plans they had made over the last days to make sure, that no one involved in this would manage to escape, establishing a third safety parameter outside the second one. Sitwell might have tried to protest if he hadn't known Coulson long enough to know that the senior agent always had his very well thought through reasons.

The Avengers attacked an hour after dawn, deciding that the better light, which would help them catching fleeing HYDRA agents was a more important advantage than potentially sleepy enemies.

Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Black Widow all took their positions and the Dr. Banner let out the other guy.

Coulson naturally stayed back, watching SHIELD secure the parameter, but the rest of the Avengers actually stood back, too. Hulk liked the 'little Hawkman' and he didn't like people standing between him and his little friend.

When Coulson followed the Avengers in, the fight was over. Iron Man, Thor and the Captain were rounding up the last remaining HYDRA agents. The Widow and Hulk were in the same room as Barton. Hawkeye didn't look too good, but better than Coulson had expected. The blood around his mouth was a hint that Clint might have lost a tooth or two, and there were various cuts and bruises visible, but none of it looked serious and the more important part was the fact that Barton's patent 'devil may care' tone was there as he told his rescuers.

"I'm just glad that SHIELD healthcare has full dental coverage."

Coulson stepped close, ignoring the protective green giant hovering over Clint. They were still in the middle of a mission, so he allowed himself nothing more than a reassuring touch of the arm, but he simply needed skin contact between them.

"Agent Barton?"

For a fraction of a moment he could see the warmth in Clint's eyes, before the younger man turned completely professional again.

"Coulson I need to report to Fury now and in private."

Phil nodded, he didn't know what Clint had found out, but he had a terrible suspicion. He pulled out his cell and dialed Fury's number. There weren't many people who could simply call the Director of SHIELD, seven to be exact, and Coulson was one of them.

"Director Fury?... We need you for a debrief in the Avengers Tower...Yes, Sir."

Clint looked up to the Hulk. "Hey Big Guy, would you mind taking me home?"

The giant looked at the Widow and Coulson. "Home," he declared before lifting Hawkeye gently up and carrying him away.

*M*I*W*T*F*

Then everything was over and the SHIELD agents were simply cleaning up. Iron Man offered anyone who wanted it a lift, but Coulson was still needed here to exchange some last orders with Sitwell and Steve opted for going back with him. Natasha agreed to take Thor up on his offer to fly her because a – she was sure Barton would be glad for her familiar face and b – the arms of an Asgardian were far more comfortable than metal armor. Stark shrugged and flew on his own.

Coulson did his best to wrap up things as quickly as possible and left everything in the capable hands of Sitwell 45 minutes later.

On their way to the tower they had some time on their hands and Captain Rogers tried to involve him in a friendly conversation. It was clear by his choice of words, that he at least understood Coulson's position as a senior handler and tried to let him know that. Under normal circumstances Phil would have been thrilled to have this kind of conversation with Steve Rogers, but right now he was far too concerned for Clint and for whatever he had found out. His answers were polite but also very short and soon the Captain gave up on his attempts on conversation.

*M*I*W*T*F*

They arrived to the tower to find Clint cleaned up and his scrapes and bruises treated. Dr. Banner was just finishing up bandaging the last cut, while the rest of the Avengers stood around, making sure that _their_ archer had returned home.

When Coulson and Captain Rogers entered, Barton welcomed them with a mock salute. Steve turned towards Dr. Banner.

"How is he?"

"I'm no medical Doctor Steve, but as far as I can tell he'll be fine."

Phil had only eyes for Clint, his tone was absolutely professional. "What kind of injuries, Barton?"

Although the archer rolled his eyes, he answered in the same manner. "I lost a tooth and a half, got a couple of first degree burns, nothing bigger than a cigarette butt, the rest is shallow cuts and bruises. There's nothing torn or broken – Sir."

"How would he know," Stark wanted to know. "And how do you know he's not lying?"

"He knows because he has the experience, Tony," Steve explained.

"And he wouldn't dare to lie about his injuries," Tasha continued.

"Not if he knows what's good for him," a new voice added.

Everyone turned towards Fury who stood behind Coulson and Rogers in the doorway. "I was told I needed to come here for a debrief, which is quite unusual." His eye bore into Phil, who simply took a step backwards to grant Fury full view on Barton.

Hawkeye actually straightened when the Director's eye fell upon him. "I requested that, Sir, it seemed appropriate under the circumstances."

"Well then report, Agent."

"When we fought the HYDRA agents almost 4 days ago, I went into melee once I ran out of arrows. In close proximity I recognized one of the weapons and a wristband device one of them was carrying. Both were SHIELD issued objects. The weapon was a standard model and might have been taken from an agent in field, but the wrist device was a prototype from R&D, so I decided to go in and find out how they got it."

Fury's face was able to frighten even the most battle hardened soldier. "And did you find out who they got their hands on?"

"I wouldn't have requested deliverance if I hadn't, Sir. It's Quinn Mercer– but he's not the only one. There's at least one other mole, that much I could tell from their remarks and they don't know each other. I hope we've captured enough of them to make _them_ talk."

"Don't worry, Agent, I will take care of this." Fury turned towards the rest of the Avengers. "None of you will talk about this. Romanoff – I might call you in the next couple of days."

Natasha simply nodded.

Tony turned to Clint as soon as Fury was gone. "Just to make sure I get this right, you were ready to die at those terrorists' hands, because Fury doesn't have his people under control?"

"If everyone at SHIELD was Fury's people, we wouldn't have that problem," Clint stated tiredly. "Look I'm sorry Tony, but I'm not sure if you understand what would happen, if people like HYDRA successfully took SHIELD out, you might be a genius, but you are far too much of an optimist to imagine all the consequences."

And suddenly Phil didn't care anymore, he had planned to talk this over with Clint, he had planned to maybe ease his way into this, talk to them all individually. But right now after waiting for a possibility to see and touch Clint for so long, after Fury had left, which meant they were officially off the clock, Phil found that he had lost all patience. He was tired of hiding, he was tired of squabbles and arguments. He walked over to the archer, not caring that everyone's eyes were upon them once he reached him. His hand came up caressing Clint's cheek and after a short moment of shocked surprise the younger man leaned into the touch. Phil relished in the tactile sensation of the stubby skin against his hand and being close enough to Hawkeye to take in his unique smell before he leaned in and kissed him.


	11. Epilogue

author's note: Last bit featuring Tony and Steve (and a bit Tasha) Tony hits the spot even better than he knows himself here. As always reviews and concrit are welcome :)

* * *

Tony and Steve were standing outside the common room on the vast balcony after Coulson and Barton had retreated to _their_ bed room. It was still a bit odd to think of it that way.

Steve was staring out into the sky. "I wonder how long this has been going on?"

"According to Agent Romanoff, since before you were defrosted. They never made a big deal out of it though – the job always comes first." Tony took a sip from his beer.

Rogers' brow furrowed. "That's not right."

"The job coming first or the hiding?" Tony was genuinely curious what Steve thought about that.

"The hiding – I'm the field leader, I'm supposed to make decisions, but how can I do that if they keep these kind of secrets and besides that, we're their team." The way Steve said it, it sounded more like family than anything else. "Why did they hide it from us?"

Tony studied Steve's earnest confusion. "You really got no clue, do you?"

Steve shook his head.

"Daddy issues."

"What? What do Agent Coulson's or Barton's fathers have to do with this?" The super soldier was utterly confused.

Tony sighed. "Nothing – look Barton is an orphan and as far as I know Coulson and his parents get along boringly well, or their dead too – who cares, that's not the point. The point is YOU, Captain. Coulson has a serious case of hero worship going on concerning you. Which means he wants your approval. Take into account the fact that your time wasn't exactly famous for their tolerance regarding anyone who wasn't a white, blonde, male, heterosexual Presbyterian..."

Steve blushed slightly. "It might be still confusing to me that people are so open about this kind of thing in the here and now, but I never gave him a reason to believe I would think less of him because of something like that."

Tony shook his head at Steve's avoidance of the word homosexuality, you could take a man out of the 40's it seemed, but not the other way around. "Nevertheless Cap, it isn't easy coming out to your family, can be quite traumatic indeed."

"You speak from experience, Stark," Natasha's cool voice chimed in. Tony hadn't heard her approach but apparently she'd decided they had done enough talking about her two best friends.

"Oh it was quite traumatic for my father. For me it was more exhausting. I had to work months on letting him capture me in the act with that cute guy Victor. Ever after walking in on me with Sally Lakins he had grown quite cautious about walking into my room."

"You slept with men?" Steve was quite shocked.

Tony just shrugged. "Yes and before you ask, of course Pepper knows."

"You worked on letting your father catch you in the act?" Tasha asked amused.

"Well what can I say, I had quite the rebellious streak." Tony turned to Steve. "But don't worry Cap – I doubt that Coulson would ever do something like that to you." He patted the other man the shoulder and went inside.


End file.
